Marvel Avengers Assemble Review

A Cinematic Marvel

Joss Whedon has pulled off cinema's greatest plate-spinning trick with The Avengers.

It's probably safe to say that Marvel has officially hit its groove when it comes to producing big summer blockbusters. Since 2008's Iron Man, the comic firm-turned production stable has churned out crowd-pleasing popcorn —sellers year after year, with only Ed Norton's perhaps unfairly maligned The Incredible Hulk the only blot on their otherwise impeccable record.

Seeds for the ultimate team-up movie that would unite all of Marvel's mightiest heroes (minus the ones licensed to other studios - Sony owns Spider-Man; Fox — X-Men) were sown throughout the run up to The Avengers. If you were left perplexed by the Sam Jackson cameos and confused by the continual reappearance of besuited berk Agent Coulson in Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man 2, then everything should become clear early on in The Avengers.

Thor's brother Loki (Brit thesp Tom Hiddleston on magnificent form) arrives on Earth hellbent on enslaving the human race and causing some major mischief in the process. S.H.I.E.L.D., the shadowy government agency led by Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury and Agent Coulson, jumps into action embarking on a worldwide recruitment drive to assemble The Avengers in order to prevent this global disaster.

Needless to say, The Avengers are assembled, but they don't necessarily all want to work together. Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man is the most obstreperous of the lot. Wise-cracking, obnoxious and mistrustful of S.H.I.E.L.D, Downey Jr should be the star of the show, but it's testament to the powers of nerd genius Joss Whedon that each of the Avengers is given their time in the limelight fairly and evenly.

Whedon the brains behind Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and the recent horror hit Cabin in the Woods, has pulled off one cinema's greatest plate-spinning tricks with Avengers. Chris Evans' earnest Captain America; Scarlett Johansson's ass-kicking superspy Black Widow; Chris Hemsworth's magnificently obliviously pompous Thor; Mark Ruffalo's troubled Hulk - they all get their moment to shine, and the interplay between the team of costumed heroes provides more belly laughs than your average so-called 'comedy'.

Unfortunately, Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye is given little chance to shine, but shows great potential for a future solo outing. However, it's Mark Ruffalo's Hulk that proves to be the biggest surprise. Following two fairly inconsequential outings, The Hulk has proven to be a bit of a cinematic non-event, but fans of the comic character will not be disappointed as he gets to smash with wanton abandon.

Whilst the emphasis on inter-character relationships gives The Avengers its heart, the action gives the film its balls... and there are some serious cajones on display. From the opening sequence onwards, the action continues to ramp up throughout the film's surprisingly snappy 142 minutes, culminating in a huge action set piece that sees Avengers taking on Loki's alien army in Manhattan.Although far from perfect - there are plot holes and inconsistencies that you could fly a helicarrier through - once things get properly underway in Avengers Assemble, it's a technicolour rollercoaster of nerdgasm-inducing awesomeness that sets a very high bench mark. This summer's forthcoming comic book contenders - The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man - have a lot to live up to. Don't signal the death-knell for the superhero movie just yet. Avengers Assemble has just given the genre the radioactive blast it needed.